The Postcard
A Wrench Classical Series postcard that was printed in England. Note the policeman directing traffic and pedestrians, and the man up a ladder attending to a lamp attached to the Bank of England.
The card was posted in South Tottenham on Saturday the 19th. July 1913 to:
Monsieur Fuibert,
49, Rue Boussingault,
Paris XIII.
On the message side of the divided back, a man named Maurice has written a long note to his parents in which he states that he is in perfect health and is residing at:
4, Cunningham Road,
Tottenham,
London.
The Bank of England
The Bank of England (on the left of the photograph) is the central bank of the United Kingdom, and the model on which most modern central banks have been based.
Established on the 27th. July 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's eighth-oldest bank.
It was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946 by the Attlee ministry.
The bank became an independent public organisation in 1998, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, with a mandate to support the economic policies of the government of the day, but independent in maintaining price stability.
The bank is one of eight banks authorised to issue banknotes in the United Kingdom. It has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, and regulates the issue of banknotes by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Bank of England currently (2023) has reserves equivalent to 101.59 billion US dollars.
The bank's Monetary Policy Committee has devolved responsibility for managing monetary policy. The Treasury has reserve powers to give orders to the committee if they are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances, but Parliament must endorse such orders within 28 days.
In addition, the bank's Financial Policy Committee was set up in 2011 as a macroprudential regulator to oversee the UK's financial sector.
The bank's headquarters have been in London's main financial district, the City of London, on Threadneedle Street, since 1734. It is sometimes known as The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, a name taken from a satirical cartoon by James Gillray in 1797. The road junction outside is known as Bank Junction.
As a regulator and central bank, the Bank of England has not offered consumer banking services for many years, but it still does manage some public-facing services, such as exchanging superseded bank notes.
Until 2016, the bank provided personal banking services as a privilege for employees.
Suffragette Activity
So what else happened on the day that Maurice posted the card to his parents?
Well, on the 19th. July 1913, letter boxes across Birmingham were filled with a noxious substance, seriously burning a postman when he opened one box.
This was the work of suffragettes, who had initiated a bombing and arson campaign in 1912 which continued until 1914.
On the same day, Edith Rigby planted a pipe bomb at the Liverpool Cotton Exchange Building. This exploded in the public hall. After she was arrested, Rigby stated that:
"I planted the bomb because
I wanted to show how easy it
is to get explosives and put
them in public places".
Edith Rigby
Edith Rigby (née Rayner) was born on the 18th. October 1872. She was an English suffragette who used arson as a way of furthering the cause of women’s suffrage.
Rigby was the first woman in Preston to own a bicycle.
She founded a night school in Preston called St Peter's School, aimed at educating women and girls.
Later Edith became a prominent activist, and committed several acts of arson. She was incarcerated seven times.
Edith Rigby - The Early Years
Born in Preston, Lancashire, she was one of seven children of Dr Alexander Clement Rayner, and was educated at Penrhos College in North Wales.
Edith married Dr. Charles Rigby and lived with him in Winckley Square in Preston. From an early age she questioned the differences between working-class and middle-class women, and after she was married she worked hard to improve the lives of women and girls working in local mills.
In 1899, she founded St Peter's School, which allowed these women to meet and continue their education which otherwise would have stopped at the age of 11.
At home, she was critical of her neighbours' treatment of their servants. The Rigbys had servants themselves, but allowed them certain unconventional freedoms such as being able to eat in the dining-room and not being required to wear uniforms.
Edith Rigby's Activism
In 1907 Edith formed the Preston branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Rigby became a suffragette recruiter, gathering new members from among the local Independent Labour Party, including Eleanor Higginson, who became a lifelong friend.
Rigby took part in a march to the Houses of Parliament in London in 1908 with Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst. Fifty-seven women, including Rigby, were arrested and sentenced to a month in prison.
During this time (and her six subsequent sentences), Rigby took part in hunger strikes and was subjected to force-feeding.
Edith's activism included planting a bomb in the Liverpool Corn Exchange on the 5th. July 1913, and although it was later stated in court that no great damage had been done by the explosion, Mrs Rigby was found guilty and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment with hard labour.
Rigby was given a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by WSPU.
Edith also claimed to have set fire to the bungalow of Sir William Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) on the 7th. July 1913. The property, near Rivington Pike on the West Pennine Moors, contained a number of valuable paintings, and the attack resulted in damage costing £20,000. Afterwards she said:
"I want to ask Sir William Lever whether he
thinks his property on Rivington Pike is more
valuable as one of his superfluous houses
occasionally opened to people, or as a
beacon lighted to King and Country to see
here are some intolerable grievances for
women."
Rigby disagreed with the WSPU's decision not to campaign on suffrage issues during the Great War.
Edith Rigby - The Later Years
During the Great War, Edith bought a cottage near Preston named Marigold Cottage, and used it to produce food for the war effort. With her short hair and men's clothes, she grew fruit and vegetables and kept animals and bees, following the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.
She had a happy marriage with her husband, who lived with her at her cottage. They adopted a son called Sandy. In the 1920's, Rigby was a founding member and the president of the Hutton and Howick Women's Institute. Rigby became a vegetarian.
In 1926 Charles Rigby retired, and the couple built a new house, called Erdmuth, outside Llanrhos, North Wales. Charles died before it was finished, however, and Edith moved there alone at the end of 1926.
She continued to follow Steiner's work, forming an "Anthroposophical Circle" of her own, and visiting one of his schools in New York.
Into old age she enjoyed a healthy lifestyle, bathing in the sea, fell walking and meditating into the early hours of every morning.
Edith eventually suffered from Parkinson's disease and died at home at the age of 77 on the 23rd. July 1950 at Llanrhos, Wales.
